In the Torah reading קדושים Kedoshim (“holiness(es),” Leviticus 19–20), we find “the second greatest commandment”: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This section also includes a reiterating of the 10 commandments.
Holiness is not perfection. Holiness, per the Hebrew word קדש qadash (“to set aside”), means to separate, create a distinction from the world.
Leviticus 16 shows us that we cannot reach holiness on our own. The High Priest has to do it for us in our stead, while we must have the right attitude. That pattern is lived out with the Mashiakh (Messiah, Christ), Yeshua (Jesus), Who with His own life covered over and removed the sins, transgressions and iniquities of the world.
The sage Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra (A.D. 1089–circa 1167) observed that a number of instructions in this passage parallel those in the Ten Commandments of Exodus 20.
| Leviticus 19 | Exodus 20 |
|---|---|
| “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2 NASB) | “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:2–3 NASB) |
| “Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods; I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 19:4 NASB) | “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.” (Exodus 20:4 NASB) |
| “You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 19:12 NASB) | “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7 NASB) |
| “you shall keep My sabbaths” (Leviticus 19:3 NASB) | “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (Exodus 20:8 NASB) |
| “Every one of you shall reverence [יָרֵא] his mother and his father’” (Leviticus 19:3 NASB) | “Honor [כָּבֵד] your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.” (Exodus 20:12 NASB) |
| “you are not to act against the life of your neighbor” (Leviticus 19:16 NASB) | “You shall not murder.” (Exodus 20:13 NASB) |
| “Now if a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave acquired for another man, but who has in no way been redeemed nor given her freedom, there shall be punishment; they shall not, however, be put to death, because she was not free.” (Leviticus 19:20 NASB) | “You shall not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14 NASB) |
| “You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. … You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him.” (Leviticus 19:11, 13 NASB) | “You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”” (Exodus 20:15–17 NASB) |
God’s kingdom is not of this world and to live in His presence, we can’t be of this world. To learn holiness,we first have to trust Him first and then keep following God until He leads us to His Torah so we can learn and practice Torah.
We are called to test every teaching we stumble upon by the standard of the Torah. We even test what we read in the New Testament against this standard. If we read something in the New Testament that seems to contradict the Old Testament, it is because we don’t have a complete understanding, not because the words of the New Testament are false.
We are also called to honor and revere both our earthly creators, our parents, and our Creator God. If we can’t revere and honor the parents we can see and touch, how can we revere and honor the Creator we can’t see?
A lot of the unholy things we see in this chapter such as slander, gossip, sexual immorality, etc., are like termites chewing up our society and yet most people don’t see how the walls of our society are crumbling. We are to live in the world, not of the world. We are to be ambassadors of the Kingdom of Heaven. The ambassador speaks for his or her King. How we act is to reflect where we come from.
Our society likes to blend the practices of different cultures and create new cultures from them but we are warned against this in regard to God’s ways. We must maintain strict separations between what is sacred space and sacred things v. the common space and common things.
“‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2 NASB)
That reiterates what the LORD told the people through Moshe at Sinai — after the Passover and Red Sea crossing and before the giving of the Ten Words. They were to become a “kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:3–6).
“Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.’” (Exodus 19:3–6 NASB)
God’s people are called to be a light to the nations. God’s people live differently than the world live, and speak differently than the world speaks. They are to help those in the nations to know God and how to live in a way that pleases Him. The LORD is different from the world, so those who bear the LORD’s name are to be different from the world.
This statement follows a number of the LORD’s instructions, including the reason for the dietary laws we read earlier in Vayiqra (Leviticus 11:44–45).
As we’ve discussed regarding Peter’s vision of the sheet full of unclean animals in Acts 10, the matter at hand was whether the LORD had also set apart as a special possession as a part of Israel the God-fearers from the nations (gentiles), not whether the spiritual lesson of distinguishing fit and unfit to approach the LORD had been abrogated.
In fact, the apostle wrote later, quoting the “be holy” phrase from the Torah, that all of the Body of Messiah — native-born Israel and grafted-in foreigners — were to be follow pursue the set-apartness of the LORD as a “royal priesthood” (1Pet. 1:10–16; 2:1–9).
“As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven — things into which angels long to look.
Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”” (1 Peter 1:10–16 NASB)
We need to have a change of heart — New Covenant promise of Jer. 31:31–34 — and to find the One who can help us walk in the right direction. We aren’t called to show up holy and perfect. We just need to be willing to learn how to become holy and perfect. In the book of Hosea, we learn about the infinite patience of God.
“The cleanliness code (Leviticus 11-15) instructed Israel how to prepare for worship (Leviticus 1-10). Holiness belongs to God, and we, who cannot attain holiness on our own but receive it from Him, are called to live a holy life before Him. Indeed, Christians are called to holiness in every area of their lives. In the Lord’s Prayer we say, ‘Hallowed be Your Name.’ It is not that we want God’s name to be made holy by our prayers, but that His name may be made holy in us.” (Orthodox Study Bible)
We are called to leave our old life behind. Like the Exodus from Mitzraim (Egypt), we can’t take our unrighteous baggage into the Kingdom with us. We must leave all of it behind.
“You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. ‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 19:17–18 NASB)
No matter how well (or how poorly) you and those around you walk in righteousness, we are not allowed to call a grudge or hate the person.
How do we live this out in a culture that tells us that if you don’t condone and applaud sinful acts, that you are a “hater”?
Does proclaiming what Heaven declares to be holy make us “holier than thou”? What’s the reason for pointing out people’s problems? Real self-worth is not about making myself higher by seeing another as lower. People can see though that.
How is that different from gossiping? Are we seeking to make the other feel lower? We are not to seek to extend our own dominion to control the other person but to live in genuine concern for others.
How do we properly reprove someone who is walking in sin?
“He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself, And he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, Reprove a wise man and he will love you.” (Proverbs 9:7–8 NASB)
“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, But he who hates reproof is stupid.” (Proverbs 12:1 NASB)
Indeed, Heaven calls us to be havens for holiness. Here is a small sample of Bible instructions and cautions for doing that:
- Proverbs 9:7–10; 10:17; 12:1; 13:18; 15:5, 10, 12, 31, 32; 17:10; 19:25; 21:11; 25:12; 26:5; 27:5, 6; 28:23
- Ecclesiastes 7:5
- Amos 5:10
- Matthew 18:15-17
- Luke 17:3, 4
- John 7:7
- Galatians 4:16
- Ephesians 4:15; 5:11, 13
- Philippians 3:1
- 1 Thessalonians 5:14
- 1 Timothy 5:1, 2, 20
- 2 Timothy 4:2
- Titus 1:13
- Hebrews 3:13
- Revelation 11:10
Drawing from the Torah, Yeshua showed us how we are to resolve conflicts between each other.
“’If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that “BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED.” If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the ekklesia; and if he refuses to listen even to the ekklesia, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” (Matthew 18:15–17 NASB)
Does “let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector” mean hate the person? Certainly not, according to Lev. 19:17. Rather, we take the “better way”:
“Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. “And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”” (Luke 17:3–4 NASB)
This is Yeshua’s example. He forgives repeatedly, and we are to follow His example. The LORD wants to call the world to Himself, to cover over their sins, transgressions and iniquities and to live with the world (the lessons of the seventh-month memorials of Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles). The way the world works is not how Heaven works. The bridge from the world to Heaven is Messiah Yeshua.
Summary: Tammy